The Sophian

Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Arts

Back in July, Douglas Haddow of Adbusters Magazine condemned the hipsters of America as the death of culture as we know it. Citing the misuse of keffiyehs, Polaroid cameras, Parliament cigarettes and American Apparel, coupled with a gnawing desire for attention, Haddow condemned hipsters and hipsterdom as "the end of Western civilization - a culture lost in the superficiality of its past and unable to create any new meaning… While previous youth movements have challenged the dysfunction and decadence of their elders, today we have the 'hipster' - a youth subculture that mirrors the doomed shallowness of mainstream society."

Haddow's view is a bit alarmist, but he's onto something. Here at Smith, the trend is rampant. We rock the keffiyehs and painfully tight jeans, or eschew real pants in favor of leggings, ignoring the potential embarrassment of camel toe. Some of us drink out of Ball jars rather than water bottles, and some of us suck down PBR and Parliaments in the name of college kid revelry. And even though Dov Charney skeeves me out a little, I know that I feel better buying clothes made in the USA with supposedly fair labor practices rather than ditching the Classic Girl label in favor of, say, that evil triumvirate of the Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy.

But the components of the hipster look aren't the problem. The problem is the emptiness Haddow condemns our generation of clinging to in the name of looking cool. We buy overpriced clothing and beer that tastes like water and we wear an iconic scarf that used to be a political symbol, but is now something that many of us buy at Urban Outfitters without any comprehension of what it stands for.

And while I have no beef with the unisex v-neck T-shirts, and drinking bad beer is anyone's prerogative, there is something a little off about our generation's love for the keffiyeh. It's akin to the abundance of Che Guevara T-shirt wearers who know nothing about Che Guevara's politics. Over its long history, the keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men, has been a symbol of Palestinian solidarity. It was Yasser Arafat's signature look, and red and white keffiyehs are even associated with Hamas. These checked scarves had an American resurgence among young adults back in the '80s, when wearing one was a political statement as well as a fashion choice. But now, drained of its political significance and available in purple and pink, the keffiyeh is sported by hipsters of our generation, many of whom are unaware of its history. It is this appropriation of past subcultures and consequent sucking of meaning from them that is the problem posed by the hipster movement. Self-obsession has replaced any desire for social change or creating a new culture. Past subcultures had political significance. Hipsterdom has none.

Continued...

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